Every Fifth Generation
by The Unsinkable Molly Screamo
Summary: Every fifth generation the Labyrinth will call to them, if no one answers, it will consume it's king. The Goblin King refuses to let this happen, and It's Eris's turn.
1. Chapter 1

"Every fifth generation, the Labyrinth calls to us,and every fifth generation, one of us has to answer the call".

"_Is that true Grandma"?_

"_Of course it is, so be careful about what you wish for or the Goblin King will take one of you and the eldest will have to find you"._

"_Did you hear that Eris, you have to save one of us"_

"_Shut up Jeremy"_

"_Now, now Jerimeth, Leave you sister alone"_

"_Grandma, who will the Goblin King take"?_

"_I'm not sure Vega, darling"_

Eris woke up in a sweat, she rolled out of bed and groggily stammered into her bathroom. This had been the fifth night in a row she had had this dream, about Grandma and her stupid story.

"I don't believe in fairy tales" Eris whispered bitterly as she turned on the faucet and splashed some water on her face. "I'm 15 years old, I shouldn't be believing in such nonsence". Eris looked at herself in the mirror, she shouldn't believe in this stuff even though everyone though she looked like a fairy.

"Eris you are pretty, just like the fairies in Grandma's stories".

"_Well, I'm not a fairy"._

"But you have shiny dark hair like the fairies, your eyes are really, really light blue and they shine like faries. You also are too pale to be a human".

"_Well then Veg, I guess I'm a fairy" _

All these memories came flooding to her, all of these good memories. They seemed like a blessed relief to the nightmares she used to have, after her dad died. Eris let out a small growel and looked into her sink. The white porcelin made her think of Vega and her childish stories.

It had been hard for them, after Grandma died, their father began to get sick and their mother became an alcoholic. When their father died, their mother grew depressed and rarely came out of her room. Eris was left with everything, she didn't have the time to believe in fairy tales.

Eris staired into her sink, she gripped it's rims in anger until her knuckled grew red. She refused to cry, she had to be strong for her family. She slowly relesed the sink and, like the robot she had become, she slowly walked out of the bathroom and back to her bed. She stood at the side of her bed and examined it, it was covered with sweat, and she really didn't want to sleep in her own sweat. She sighed and looked at her room, she only place she ever got peace. Her only place where she couldn't lie to herself, she felt like a damn hypocrite when she walked into her room. Her bookshelves were covered with fairy tales, she always told people that the stories were to comfort her siblings, which was half true. She also had a necklace of purple fairy dust which she always wore. It had been given to her by her Grandma, and her last words to her were etched into the bottle.

"It's only forever, not long at all" 

Eris slowly turned to examine the last bit of her room, which was rather plain. There was only her bathroom, and her vanity that was covered with pictures of her dad, who was a musician. Eris turned back to her bed and looked up, there was her window, a large window with a white frame. Outside of her window was a large oak tree, currently bare due to the large amount of snow they had just got. Though she did notice something strange tonight, out sitting on one of the branches was and owl. It was a beautiful owl, it had gray feathers that slowly faded into pure white as they lead towards the tips. She staired at this creature and it staired right back like it was reading her thoughts, as if it lnew every dark seacret and desire she had. The owl seemed to smile at her with it's strange colored eyes. Eris looked closer and saw the owl had deep purple eyes. She was slightly taken back, she had never heard of an owl with purple eyes. The owl gave one last gleaming look and flew off into the night. Eris followed it until it was out of sight, she sighed and pushed back her seacret desires as she heard little footsteps running towads her room.

"Eri, Eri, Eri" Vega shoutted as she burst into the room.

"What Veg, did you have a nightmare again?" Eris asked as she took the little six year old into her arms.

"No, I saw something scary outside, it was a bird but it had purple eyes" Vega sobbed, "It was a bad birdy".

"Shush, it's alright" Eris said to comfort her sister.


	2. Chapter 2

"Damn, they haven't wished yet!" Than roared at he slammed his fists into the wall next to his thrown.

"Calm down sir, she'll come through" his adviser comforted, Kione had always been the voice of reason in Than's and his father's life.

"Once she turns 18, it's over for me, I refuse to let what happened to my father happen to me. That's the reason he cursed that stupid girl and her idiotic family, so they would come back!" Than exploded again

"Listen to me Than, just wait she will come, she has to. This place is in her blood, she can't resist long" Kione soother his troubled king.

"I won't be my father, I refuse to be consumes by the very thing I'm bound to" Than spat as he moved to his window to look out upon the great stone walls his ancestors built many years ago.

"The only way you won't be your father is if you have more patients, don't make your father's mistakes and just wait" Kione whispered, and with a bow he left the troubled king.

Eris woke up to find Vega still asleep in her arms; they had sat in her rocking chair all night. Eris looked down to also find Jeremy and their dog Ambrosius asleep on the floor. Eris slowly got up and took Vega back to her room to sleep a little longer; it was only four o'clock in the morning. Eris also had to go to work; their mom was already at her job, as a secretary for some big business. Eris crept into her mother's room and looked at the bottle of antidepressants sitting on the table, she counted how many were in there. Eris sighed in relief as she saw that two were missing, so today would be a good day. Their mother had been forced to see a doctor by their Aunt Catherine, her mom wasn't abusive just reclusive. She didn't pay much attention to her children when she didn't have her medication. Eris walked out of the room and saw Jeremy sitting in the hall, petting Ambrosius.

"Eris, why is my name Jerimeth?" He asked as if in a trance. Eris walked over to her brother who simply pet the large dog

"I don't know, Grandma gave you your name" Eris replied.

"Mommy left, she said good-bye" Jeremy said as he got up off of the floor and headed into his room. Eris sighed and went to go get dressed.

"Sir" Kione said as he walked back into the thrown room. Than sat in his thrown, with his head in his hands, whispering nonsense that he had learned as a child about the fairies that lived in the aboveground. "Sir".

"What Kione?" Than replied not moving from his position.

"I have just gotten word that Sir Didymus has been seen in the outer reach," Kione said.

"Where is Hoggle?" Than asked as he looked at his adviser.

"You put him in the oubliette two years ago" Kione replied.

"Oh, I did, well get him out" Than commanded, " I have a job for him". Kione bowed and left, he hated his highness tantrums, then again his father was no better. Than sighed and created a bubble in his hands, his father and mother had been better at this, but it would have to do. Than looked into the now hardened crystal ball and saw his target walking home from her part-time job at a local bookstore.

Eris had known the owner since she was little, so to help the family, he let Eris work part time. She came up to her front door and opened it up to find her mother sitting there reading a story to Vega and Jeremy.

"Eris, mommy came home early" Vega squealed.

"Eris honey, I have been invited to a party tonight. Do you have any plans?" Her mother asked. Eris shook her head, it had been so long since her mother had gone out anywhere, and she was in a bit of a shock. "Good, will you baby sit for me tonight"?

"Yes, you go and have a good time mom" Eris said as she snapped out of her trance. Her mother smiled and stood up. "Vega, Jerimeth you two be good for your sister, alright" their mother said.

"Okay mom" they both replied and their mother left. Vega stood up and ran upstairs to go get her bunny rabbit stuffed animal that she told everything to. Jeremy just sat on the floor looking at the door.

"Things are looking up" Eris smiled at her little brother.

"For mom, but not us" Jeremy said in a grim tone. He got up and with Ambrosius at his heels; he walked into his room and locked the door. Eris sighed, she wanted to comfort Jeremy, but there was no way to, he took Grandma's stories seriously. Eris walked up to Vega's room to see her squeezing her bunny rabbit in joy.

"Eris, can you believe it, mommy's getting better" Vega laughed and jumped on her bed.

"Yes and then everything will be back to the way it was" Eris laughed and plopped down on her sister's bed.

"Eris tell me a story," Vega said as she snuggled with her pillows.

"Tell us the story of the Labyrinth" Jeremy said from the doorway.

"That one again?" Eris moaned.

"Tell us" Vega chirped.

"Alright, Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl whose stepmother always made her stay home with the baby. And the baby was a spoiled child, and wanted everything to himself, and the young girl was practically a slave. But what no one knew is that the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl, and he had given her certain powers. So one night, when the baby had be particularly cruel to her, she called on the goblins for help!" Eris started. Jeremy had since then walked further into the room and had sat in a chair near his sister's window. Jeremy starred out into the night, it had began to snow. "Say the right words," the goblins said, "and we'll take the baby to the castle, and you will be free!" But the girl knew that the Goblin King would keep the baby in his castle for ever and ever and ever, and turn it into a goblin! And so the girl suffered in silence. Until one day, when she was tired from a day of housework, and she was hurt by the harsh words of her stepmother, and she could no longer stand it..." Eris continued, " I can bear it no longer! Goblin King! Goblin King! Wherever you may be take this child of mine far away from me

'!

" Those aren't the right words, it doesn't even start with I wish" Jeremy mumbled from the window.

"Well then do you want me to say them?" Eris smirked.

"NO, don't" Vega said and jumped up.

"I think I will" Eris said and backed away from her siblings.

"Eris, don't" Jeremy said and also jumped up. Unknown to his sister's he had seen an owl, the same owl that had been haunting his dreams for five days straight.

"I wish. . ." Eris started and Jeremy began to run towards her, "The Goblins would come and take you two, right now". Eris laughed and the lights went off, and she heard Vega scream. "It's okay Vega" Eris started, but she got no response. "Vega, Jeremy"? 


	3. Chapter 3

"I wish. . ." Than herd her say, he sprung up with delight, Kione was right, he only had to wait.

"Kione, you were right" Than whispered and gracefuly rushed out of the room to prepare for his big entrance.

Eris looked through the darkness frantic, her sister and brother were here a minuet ago. She could hear laughs and giggles through the darkness, she tried to run for the door but it slamed in her face. Suddenly the windo burst open, letting in gusts of wind and snow. Eris looked at the window, and saw that owl from the night before. It still seemed to smile at her, with it's purple eyes. Then a gust of wind pinned her against the door, she let out a yell and the wind bean to die down. She looked at the window again and this time there was a man sitting on the window cill. He was a good looking man with black hair that slowly turned in a bright blond as it grew, he had dark purple eyes that emphisized his vicouse smile. His clothse were strange, he wore black pants, a white poets shirt and a purple cape. The two starred at each other for a minuet, then Eris spoke.

"Who are you, and where are my brother and sister" Eris yelled.

"My name is Than, and you know exactly who I am and where your siblings are" he laughed as he rose from his perch. He had to be at least 6 foot.

"The name doesn't ring a bell, and I wouldn't have asked if I knew" Eris spat back.

"Well then let me refresh your memory" Than growled and strutted over to the girl. He grabber her arm and pulled her to his face, "My name is Than and I am ruler of the Goblins, and your brother and sister have been wished away to the castle beyond the Goblin city".

"No your not, the king's name is Jareth" Eris replied. Than let out a roar and threw Eris to the ground.

"That's my father, now you have thirteen hours to finish the Labyrinth or I keep your brother and sister" Than said and with a snap of his fingers they were both transported to the outside of the Labyrinth. "Your time starts now" Than said and with that walked away, slowly disappearing as he did. Eris laied on the hard dirt, she didn't know what to do. She slowly got up from the ground and stood looking at the thing she had taught herself not to believe in.

"This can't be real, it's impossible it's just a story Grandma told us" Eris whispered to herself and walked along the giant wall that separated her from the Labyrinth.

"Well you better believe it" a voice suddenly growled from behind her. Eris turned to see a little person, he looked like a goblin only taller, cleaner and with a lot of jewlery strapped to his waist.

"Who are you?" Eris stammered.

"I'm Hoggle" the person replied.

"That's impossible, you don't exsist, your made up" Eris yelled and began to run, past Hoggle, towards the distant hills. Hoggle sighed as he began to chase after her.

"Why did you have to make this so hard?" Hoggle grunted.

Than laughed, he was laughing so hard he couldn't breath, he hadn't had this much fun since he had kicked all of those goblins out of the castle. Kione stood at his side, with a distasteful look on his face.

"Don't under estimate her my lord, you always say you won't make the same mistakes as your father, but you seem to be going back on your word" Kione spat.

"Kione, don't use that tone with me" Than growled, "I know what I'm doing".

"If you know what your doing, then break the curse, you know how, end this foolishness" Kione yelled. He knew he would be in trouble but he had delt with this for almost one hundred years, he wanted this to end.

"No, I refuse to ruin my line and show weakness, that's what happened to every other king in my line and I refuse to be as weak as they were" Than screamed.

"Then be different, theach the ways, reunite the worlds make the birdges, this place would be a lot better if you did. It wouldn't be falling apart" Kione said and stormed out. Than let out a scream and walk to his window, he starred out and began to mumble nonsence to himself. Kione walked down one of the many halls, he was furiouse, he had put up with things like this, but not from him. Kione was loyal and would never go against his king, but desparate times call for desparate measures. Besides, Than would never know, he could barely use magic let alone seduce a girl to get what he wanted. Kione walked through another joining hall when he heard wailing.

"Vega, shush" a little boy said softly.

"It's the birdy, the bad birdy" the little girl named Vega wailed.

"I know, but Eris will come to get us, don't worry" the little boy comforted. Kione slowly walked to the door and opened it softly. There a little blond boy and a dark haired girl sat on the floor, in each others embrace. "What do you want?" The boy hissed.

"I wanted to see if you required anything" Kione replied. This was unexplainable to Kione, he had stared down death before, but never had he been frightened by a young boy of maybe ten or eleven. His wisdome was great, like he had lived for hundreds of years.

""Nothing you could give us" the boy replied.

"What is your name?" Kione asked.

"Jeremy, and this is my sister Vega" the boy replied. Kione nodded and gave the two a smile.

"If you need anything, just call, my name is Kione" he said and left.

Eris kept running, waiting to wake up from this nightmare, she was displeased when she couldn't. The entire way she could hear Hoggle shoutting for her to stop. When she did, the tired little creature began to reprimand her.

"You only have thirteen hours and your waisting time" Hoggle said.

"And why should I trust you?" Eris turned to yell at the creature. "As far as my knowledge of Grandma's story, you betrayed that girl until you grew a contience, and it was almost too late. What are you going to do to me, wait until it's too late, well I won't let you".

"Well if you knew anything, you would know that I wouldn't do that" Hoggle retorted, "Ever since Sarah left, it's been nothing but trouble, ever since Jareth put that stupid curse on her no one has ever been able to rest". Eris stopped and stood to face Hoggle.

"What do you mean"?

"What I mean is that, ever since Jareth left, we haven't had a good day. Ever since his son took over we have had to fend for ourselves. The Laybrinth isn't even safe to go into, I came to take you down to oubliette, that's the only place that wasn't distorted" Hoggle said and began to walk away, "If you want to save your siblings, you can follow ,me". Eris didn't want to be left here, and if what Hoggle said is true, she was in trouble. Eris finally jolted foreward to catch up with Hoggle.

"So what curse did Jareth put on that girl" Eris asked as Hoggle began to tap on the stones of the labyrinth wall.

"Well after she left, Jareth went into hystaria, he trashed his entire palace. It went on for about twenty years until his mother and father forced him to marry for the sake of the Underground. The lady he married died giving birth to that terror son of his. One day Jareth disappeared, the rumors are that the Labyrinth was angrey at him for not bringing it more people" Hoggle explained.

"What do you mean?" Eris asked.

"It's said that the more people that go through the Labyrinth, the more energy is created to keep this place running. When people came less and less, Jareth put this curse on Sarah and her family, that the Labyrinth will call to the eldest member of the. . . fourth generation, I think" Hoggle pondered.

"It's fifth generation, and I'm the fifth generation" Eris said quietly.

"Then you have a lot of responsibility, you win the Labyrinth dies, you lose the Labyrinth stays" Hoggle said rather nonchalantly. Hoggle then finally found the portion of wall her was looking for, he pressed three stones all at once and a staircase suddenly appeared. "Come on" Hoggle grunted as they made their way down the stair case into the bleak oubliette.


End file.
